Furnace Creek

This was impressive! I read it for my bookclub, and we deliberately read Great Expectations first. The symmetry is obvious, and I enjoyed this so much more because of that. Otherwise, I can imagine that I might have given up or skimmed some of it. Boone is a master with prose, descriptions, twists & turns, satisfying conclusions, and so. much. detail. Much like Dickens, of course. I am glad that I stuck with this long and sometimes challenging book. I won't soon forget it. I was especially grateful with the last two chapters, which are a nod to Dickens.
The blurbs focus a lot on this book as a gay coming of age story in the 1970s American South. It is that, but I would say that is a bit of a narrow description of Newt's evolution. It is a lot more than that. I will be encouraging my serious reading friends to jump in.